Valve spring lifter



Oct. 27, 1953 V ARTHUR I I 2,656,597

VALVE SPRING LIFTERS v Filed Feb. 10, 1949 Patented Oct. 27, 1953 VALVE SPRING LIFTER Evan Meirion Arthur, West Heath, Birmingham, England Application February 10, 1949, Serial No. 75,547 In Great Britain February 11, 1948 1 Claim.

This invention relates to locking means for valve spring lifters of the one-hand operated plier type, and it has for its object to provide means enabling a novel or improved construction which can be quickly and safely manipulated.

A further object of this invention is to provide means utilizing a link for operating a gripping jaw as part of the locking means.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of means affording the construction of the locking means as means for adjusting the opening of the jaws of the valve lifter.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a valve spring lifter constructed according to this invention.

Figure 2 is a plan.

Figure 3 is a plan of the lower gripping jaw.

Figure 4 is a plan of the lower lever.

Figure 5 is a plan of the upper lever.

Figure 6 is a plan of the catch, and

Figure 7 is a side elevation of Figure 6.

According to a convenient embodiment of this invention, the valve spring lifter comprises upper and lower levers I and 2 which may be U-shaped in cross section at the ends forming the handles 3 and 4 and the lever I is straight, whilst the other lever 2 is angle shaped, and perforated lugs 5 projecting from the side walls of the upper lever I overlap perforated lugs 6 projecting from the side walls of the lower lever 2, and a pivot pin Ia is passed therethrough. The pivot pin lies nearer the outer ends of the levers than the inner or handle ends of the levers, to provide the necessary leverage. To the inner end of the straight or upper lever I, a bifurcated upper gripping jaw or arm I is pivotally mounted at 8 intermediate its ends, and the tail of this jaw is pivotally con.- nected to the upper end of a ratchet bar 9, the lower end of which is pivotally connected at 9a to the angle shaped lever 2 at a distance to the rear of the pivot connection of the two levers I and 2. A second bifurcated lower gripping jaw I0 is pivoted at II, intermediate its ends, to the end of the lower or angle shaped lever 2 and the tail of this gripping jaw I0 is U-shaped to engage over the straight lever I to the rear of the pivotal connection of the levers I and 2. When the hand grips 3 and 4 are moved towards one another, the jaws 1 and I0 open and remain substantially parallel. If, for instance, it is considered that the jaw 1 is stationary and. the hand grips 3 and 4 are moved together, the lever 2 will pivot on 9a at the bottom of the rack 9, the swinging movement of the rack permitting of this. The pivot Ia will move downwardly and the lever 2 will also pivot on Ia and thus carry the pivot II downwardly. But as the tail of the jaw II] slidably bears on the lever I which pivots downwardly, such tail of the jaw It also moves downwardly a corresponding amount to the downward movement of the pivot II and thus keeps the jaw IIl substantially parallel to the jaw I. The upper gripping jaw I being bifurcated is formed of two arms which pass on each side of the upper or straight lever I which is also bifurcated.- The bifurcated arms of the jaw I and the lever I are set at a distance apart and the space therebetween can be varied by adjusting the screwed pin 8 pivotally mounting the upper gripping jaw on the lever I which screws into a tapped hole on one arm of the lever l. The angle shaped lever 2 is similarly bifurcated at the inner end, and the lower gripping jaw It is also bifurcated so that the space between two sides of the jaw can be varied by adjusting a screwed pin II forming pivot connection of the jaw I0 and the lever 2. In a further form the lower gripping jaw can be connected to the upper lever by means of links connected respectively to the lower jaw and the lever.

The ratchet bar 9 aforementioned passes through the bifurcation in the upper lever I and such upper lever has a pawl thereon in the form of a catch member which can be rotated to engage a tooth on the ratchet bar to pass between the ratchet teeth by a transverse directional movement. The rear edge of the link or ratchet bar 9 is curved so that the distance from such rear edge along the upper hand grip lever I to the pivot axis at 8 is the same in all positions of such lever I in relation to the link or rack bar 9. This catch may be in the form of a sector I2 pivotally mounted on the lever I and having an upturned flange I3 on the periphery, and this flange is in the form of a wedge and grad- .ually increases in height from one side to the other, so that the levers can be locked to prevent the lifting jaws closing together in any position intermediate the distance between the teeth of the ratchet. If the levers are required to be locked in a position intermediate between two teeth, the wedge shaped rim aforementioned will give the intermediate adjustment. The catch member is returned and held in the release position by a spiral spring I4, and the catch has a projection I5 which bears against the side of the rack bar 9 to register the catch in the release position. The shape of the lifting jaws can be varied to suit any particular application and the shape of the levers may also be varied according to the particular application. With the aforedescribed valve spring lifter, the valve spring can be lifted by simply applying a gripping pressure on the hand levers, thereby ensuring a great saving of time. As the wedge catch [2 aforedescribed is spring-urged into the release position, it is only necessary to grip the handles together tdiq'eleasezthepressure on the wedge catch when it will automatically move into the release position.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Let- V ters Patent, is:

A valve spring lifter comprising anvupper hand I grip lever which is substantially straight and a lever with the pivot located substantially inter mediate the ends of the levers, an upper lifting jawanda lower lifting jaw pivotally mounted intermediate their ends res qtively on one end of zea ch o fs aid upperiand said lower hand grip ay rs nkp v lr; efie t t upper liiting jaw and to said. lower hand grip lever oily said hand grip side bfthe latter andfa tail piece on the lower grippingiljavv slidably engag- @11 5 the pper hand grip lever on the hand grip side of the latter s'o that fsai'd fgi'ippingjaws remain 'sub stantially parall moved apart, a rear edge on said link which is curved so that the distance from such rear edge along the ripper hand grip lever to the axis of the pivotal mounting of the upper gripping jaw on the upper hand grip lever is the same in all positions of the upper hand grip lever in relation to said link, ratchet teeth on said rear edge of said link, a catch member rotatably mounted on said hand grip side of said upper hand grip lever and having a rim concentric with the axis of rotation of said patch member for slidably engaging one of said ratchet teeth, the edge of .said rim being wedge shaped to engage said one ratchet tooth to hold said lifting jaws in predetermineu positions of opening according to the position to whichsaid catch member has been rotated, and spring means normally urging said catch member to rotate to a position for releasiiig said run edge from said one ratchet tooth.

EVAN MEIRION ARTHUR.

fieraemes Cited in the file of this patent I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

